17650: On Strategery At WPP.

 

Adweek spotlighted WPP CEO Cindy Rose on why she’s “Not Claiming Victory Yet” with the Roserrection.

Accessing the content requires a subscription; hence, the following commentary is a response to the viewable free text.

Rose can’t claim victory because Eviscerate28 is still closer to failure than success. The best she can declare is slowing WPP’s death spiral—and just barely.

Doesn’t help that she’s restructuring while purported leaders are abandoning the global flaming dumpster. A revolving and revolting roster at the C-Suite level hardly inspires trust—for clients and drones alike—counteracting Rose’s repetitive use of the term.

WPP Media cannot proclaim revitalization. As Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun stated, 91% of account assignments are won by WPP, Omnicom, and Publicis. WPP Media nabbed new business by simply being among exclusively limited options.

Rose believes her strategy is on track. Herein lies an issue perhaps exposing her Adland inexperience.

There’s a basic advertising tenet: Breakthroughs happen when strategy and execution harmonize.

Rose might think her undisclosed strategy works. However, the execution sucks.

The delusional stabilization phase is stymied by companywide instability.

The recruitment of outsiders displays a lack of faith with insiders’ capabilities.

Ogilvy aside, WPP Creative lacks creativity.

Thanks to industry commoditization fueled by the single White operating company, WPP AI offerings are not extraordinary, but rather, extra ordinary. Ditto all WPP services.

Rose shouldn’t bear complete blame. She inherited a Titanic post-collision with an iceberg. Yet it will take way more than a strategy to save the sinking ship.

Finally, in 2021 when DEIBA+ was a performative imperative, former WPP CEO Mark Read admitted, “While our U.S. data shows progress between 2018 and 2020, it also underlines the work we have to do to ensure greater representation of Black, Asian and other under-represented communities within WPP—especially at the more senior levels.”

If the situation was bad five years ago, how much worse is it today?

Cindy Rose on Why She’s ‘Not Claiming Victory Yet’ and How AI Agents Could Boost Margins

One year in, the CEO says her strategy is on track. Here’s what has changed and what still needs to be done

By Alison Weissbrot

When Cindy Rose became CEO of WPP a little over a year ago, the company was in its worst decline since the pandemic, with revenue down 5.4% and margins eroding fast. 

Today, WPP reported that Q3 revenue, less pass-through costs, fell 2.1% to $3.2 billion (£2.41 billion), narrowing from Q2’s 2.8% decline. Reported revenue was up 0.5% year-over-year to $4.4 billion. Meanwhile, WPP Media returned to 0.3% growth for the first time in six quarters.

Rose said it’s a sign her strategy to return WPP to organic growth by 2027 is taking shape. Nearly a year into that plan, the business is starting to show signs of health, following two quarters of narrowing declines.

(Read the full story here—Adweek subscription required)

17647: WPP CEO Cindy Rose, Like Her Predecessor, Is Full Of Shit.

 

More About Advertising noted how WPP CEO Cindy Rose responded to Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun seeing a trend whereby major brands assign business to the top White holding companies sans traditional pitches.

“What’s really important to me is that my clients fully understand the implications of the decisions they’re making. These are really high-stakes decisions with material business consequences and they deserve careful consideration,” said Rose. “I don’t think we do ourselves any favours, as an industry of professionals, by encouraging clients to bypass proper due diligence.”

Um, wasn’t WPP Production recently exposed for trying to skirt around the triple-bidding process by presenting clients with multiple bids from White production sources within the global flaming dumpster network?

And don’t forget the corrupt sneakiness and criminal shenanigans at WPP Media.

Rose is clearly refining her skills as a world-class bullshit artist, mirroring predecessor Mark Read.

WPP’s Rose bites back at Publicis

By Stephen Foster

Is a scrap brewing between WPP’s Cindy Rose (below) and master-of-all-he surveys Arthur Sadoun at Publicis?

Sadoun has made much of Publicis winning major business without a pitch, saying clients shouldn’t waste their time on big pitches but take a good [look] at one agency group (chiefly his of course) as, these days there are only three contenders, Publicis, Omnicom and WPP. Pepsico is the most recent example of such a switch, with Omnicom on the receiving end.

WPP has lost out to a degree and Rose said in her earnings call yesterday: “What’s really important to me is that my clients fully understand the implications of the decisions they’re making. These are really high-stakes decisions with material business consequences and they deserve careful consideration.

“I don’t think we do ourselves any favours, as an industry of professionals, by encouraging clients to bypass proper due diligence.”

She then rather undermined her position by saying, apropos Coca-Cola’s US media (which Publicis pinched from WPP without a pitch, it then effectively resigned it to take on Pepsico): “We won the rest of the world and we have a huge amount of work to do in a very short period of time. I had people, many, many people, pitching for many, many, many weeks over the summer.

“I was with them myself in London and Shanghai and Mexico City and we made a tough call between spending another six weeks pitching for North America versus delivering against what we had already won.

“It was a fine judgment call we made and it’s as simple as that really.” Which rather makes Sadoun’s point.

But it used to be fun when the holding company bosses routinely took a pop at each other, led by WPP’s then boss Sir Martin Sorrell (who could start a fight alone in a darkened room.) Publicis’ then boss Maurice Levy used to rise to the challenge. Sorrell’s successor Mark Read was low-key, allowing Sadoun at Publicis to make the running (Omnicom’s John Wren usually stays above the fray in his lordly American way.)

Is it time for gloves off?

17625: On Cookie-Cutter Corporate Construction.

 

Advertising Age reported McCann CEO Tyler Turnbull will take the WPP Creative Global CEO title from departing VML Global CEO-WPP Creative Global CEO Jon Cook.

So much for a thoughtful transition. Then again, given the speed at which WPP CEO Cindy Rose replaced former WPP CEO Mark Read, hyper-accelerated musical chairs appear to be standard operating procedure for the single White operating company.

This also calls into question the transparency Rose once claimed to foster. How long was Turnbull courted behind the scenes? Surely the offer wasn’t hatched last week after Cook announced his resignation.

Turnbull is abandoning Omnicom, triggering suspicion of poaching and/or restructuring resentment. Regardless of the motivations, he’s hopping from the proverbial frying pan into the global flaming dumpster.

In closing, it’s worth noting Cook—a performative proponent for DEIBA+ and certified defender of Divertsity—ultimately replaced himself with two White men.

McCann CEO Tyler Turnbull set to take over as WPP Creative global CEO

By Brian Bonilla and Ewan Larkin

WPP is set to appoint Tyler Turnbull, the global CEO of McCann, as global CEO of WPP Creative, according to people familiar with the matter. Turnbull would succeed Jon Cook, who is due to step down by March.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Turnbull’s remit would extend beyond WPP Creative. Turnbull interviewed for the Ogilvy global CEO role before Laurent Ezekiel’s appointment in late 2025, according to people close to the situation.

WPP, Omnicom, McCann and Turnbull did not immediately return requests for comment.

Turnbull became McCann’s global CEO last December, following Omnicom’s acquisition of Interpublic Group of Cos., and now leads one of Omnicom Advertising’s three creative networks alongside BBDO and TBWA.

Before McCann, Turnbull rose through the ranks at IPG’s FCB. He joined in 2014 to revive the struggling Canadian office, later led New York, became North America CEO in 2019 and ascended to global CEO in 2022. FCB has since been folded into BBDO following the Omnicom deal.

Contributing: Judann Pollack

17624: Cooking A Heaping Helping Of Lame Duck.

More About Advertising presented yet another take on the impending exit of VML Global CEO-WPP Creative CEO Jon Cook, even comparing the move to Omnicom Advertising Group CEO Troy Ruhanen relinquishing his position.

Okay, except Ruhanen is an established, respected, and decorated leader succeeded by an established, respected, and decorated leader. Cook and his crony, not so much.

Cook remarked, “I look forward to working closely with Cindy (Rose, CEO) and the WPP and VML leadership teams over the coming months to execute a thoughtful transition.”

Huh? Cook isn’t scheduled to leave the building until March 2027—nearly six months away. Cook’s thoughtful transition will take roughly twice as long as his hasty decision to skedaddle.

Then again, former WPP CEO Mark Read made a similar statement about thoughtfully transitioning before being rapidly replaced by Cindy Rose.

Cook is essentially a lame duck—maybe he should duck out pronto.

VML’s Cook quits as WPP Creative boss

By Stephen Foster

When any industry goes through a process of upheaval – especially when it involves heavy redundancies – it’s right to focus on the troops as they bear the cost, often losing their jobs.

But being one of the managers charged with overseeing such upheavals can’t be much fun unless terminating people rocks your boat.

It’s interesting that VML’s Jon Cook is following hard on the heels of Omnicom Advertising Group’s Troy Ruhanen in stepping down from one of the key jobs as the industry is changing: Ruhanen, who’s being replaced by BBDO’s Andrew Robertson, masterminded (if that’s the right word) the merger of FCB into BBDO and demise of DDB as Omnicom bought IPG; Cook had the even bigger job of merging his VML with WPP’s JWT, Wunderman and Y&R to create what was the world’s biggest creative agency. At the time few people on this side of the Atlantic knew what VML was. To say that executives at the other agencies were surprised is a huge understatement.

Yet Cook, who’s being succeeded by another lifer at the one-time Kansas City digital agency, Eric Campbell, is reckoned to have done a pretty good job, eventually overseeing Ogilvy, Grey, Burson, AKQA, Landor and Design Bridge & Partners as head of the recently-minted WPP Creative. We wait to see if this really will become one company (which would be one way to get rid of even more people.)

Cook says: “This has been one of the hardest decisions I have ever made in my life. But after three decades of pouring everything I have into this agency and all of WPP, it is time to build something new. VML and WPP Creative are operating from positions of tremendous strength and this is the right moment for other voices to lead. I am immensely proud of our teams, the iconic work we produce with our clients and the one-of-a-kind culture we have built. I look forward to working closely with Cindy (Rose, CEO) and the WPP and VML leadership teams over the coming months to execute a thoughtful transition.”

The job facing the head of any creative agency these days is finding enough work at the right price to keep everyone gainfully employed. This is particularly tough for many ad folk who, incorrigible optimists that they are, think mainly of growth and, gleefully, of poaching talent from their rivals as they grow.

17614: On Mark Read Exploring AI Possibilities.

 

Advertising Age interviewed ex-WPP CEO Mark Read, who hyped his AI conference.

Looks like Read is transitioning from failing to extinguish a global flaming dumpster to organizing an obscure conference. The probable next steps include pseudo-consultant and honorary university professor.

Read may inevitably assume a series of roles, and through his performance, demonstrate that each position could be replaced by AI.

Mark Read’s next act—running an AI conference for marketers, agencies and startups

By Brian Bonilla

After seven years at the helm of one of the world’s largest agency holding companies, former WPP CEO Mark Read is running an AI conference called Prompt. The aim is to bring together about 150 people, connecting chief marketing officers and agencies with AI startups to figure out what comes next.

Read, who sold an internet company, WebRewards, to Bertelsmann during the dot-com era in 2001, is once again embracing a startup mentality while trying to help companies navigate the AI space.

The first Prompt took place in London in June. The event is designed for a small group of marketers, AI entrepreneurs and agency executives, with discussions held under Chatham House rules. The format encourages participants to speak frankly, Read said in an interview.

“We’re not trying to compete in any way with CES or even Possible,” said Read. “This is not about scale. It’s really just trying to focus on the intersection of creativity, AI, technology and marketing, and be small.”

Read, who exited WPP late last year, also spent years running Stream, WPP’s technology-focused event. He said that he saw an opportunity to continue connecting marketers with a new generation of companies developing AI applications.

Read said he sees a gap between the AI platforms marketers recognize and the applications they can put to work.

“Everyone knows OpenAI or Claude or Gemini, but on their own, they’re not much use to CMOs, right? They need applications,” he said in an interview with Ad Age. “And I thought, why don’t I see if I can bring these people together?”

Prompt comes to New York Oct. 6, during Advertising Week. Read expects about 150 people at the invite-only event, which is free to attend. Longtime advertising executives David Droga, vice chair of Accenture, and Carolyn Everson, now senior adviser at Permira, are some of the notable speakers. Other participants include CEOs and other senior executives from AI companies such as Profound, Listen Labs and Google.

Asked how much he had personally invested in Prompt, Read said only, “It’s not a massive investment.” He retains control over the speaker lineup.

“Not everyone who’s sponsoring is on stage, and not everyone who’s on stage is sponsoring,” he said.

The gap he sees with AI

Read described himself as a frequent user of Gemini and Claude for different tasks.

“The whole of Prompt is run on those two platforms—from legal advice, financial advice, managing invitations, creating content,” he said.

Read praised AI’s usefulness for startups like his own new venture, noting that established companies face a harder task of retrofitting processes and teams. The conversations Read wants Prompt to host reflect that issue: Companies are adopting AI tools, he said, but their efforts often remain disconnected.

“Too much of AI deployment happens in individual bits,” Read said. Companies need to move beyond experimentation, he said, by connecting applications, establishing sound data governance and focusing on work that can change how the organizations operate.

Read also thinks advertising inside AI tools has yet to realize its potential. “Now, what we have to do—and I don’t think we’ve yet seen this, even from OpenAI—is have an ad experience that fully exploits the power of AI to bring the right message to the right person at the right time,” he said.

He calls that “relevance rather than personalization.” Read cited a personal example of using AI while planning a trip to Alaska, noting that he would have found it useful if the tool had shown him which hotels were available, their prices and any offers while he searched.

Read’s time advising AI companies and using AI tools has also led him to consider how a brand-new agency might operate. “If I were a 25-year-old entrepreneur starting an agency, I’d be saying, ‘How do I embrace all of these tools and start from scratch?’” Read said. “What if you need fewer account executives when AI can take the briefing notes?”

Read remains a WPP shareholder and is keeping an eye on the holding companies.

The industry’s consolidation has been “driven by intense, sometimes irrational competition,” he said, adding that “pressure from procurement has led to an industry with really three major players, which hopefully will create a somewhat more healthy ecosystem for those three companies.”

Read is considering taking Prompt to Berlin, Riyadh and Singapore. Expanding Prompt beyond events is not in his current plans, he said.

Asked whether he has considered starting an agency or agency group himself, Read offered a glimpse of the possibility.

“I think about this,” he said. “Let’s leave it at that.”

17491: Former WPP CEO Mark Read Puts The Con In Conference.

Mediapsssst reported former WPP CEO Mark Read is launching a London conference to connect AI startups, business and marketing leaders, and potential investors.

 

Um, didn’t Read technically exit WPP for failing to bring together AI startups, business and marketing leaders, and potential investors?

 

Former WPP CEO Read Launches AI Start-up Conference

 

By Richard Whitman

 

Former WPP CEO Mark Read is launching a new conference in London next month designed to bring AI startups, business and marketing leaders and potential investors together, according to UK reports. It’s called Prompt. 

 

Read was quoted by online trade publication More About Advertising as saying, “I launched Prompt because I could see the opportunity to bring AI leaders together with business and marketing leaders.” In London, he added, “There’s not a venue that does that today and what I hear from CEOs and CMOs is a desire not only to embrace AI but also to know who they should be talking to.” 

 

The inaugural conference takes place June 9 at London’s Design Museum and is timed to London Tech Week.  

 

A decade ago, Maurice Lévy, the former Publicis CEO, co-founded a similar event in Paris called VivaTech, a conference and exposition.  

 

That event is still going strong. This year’s event takes place at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles on June 17-20. It’s expected to draw 180,000 attendees, 14,000 startups, and numerous global tech leaders and investors.

17481: On Honda Motor Europe Media Pileup.

MediaPost reported Honda Motor Europe completed a formal review, handing its lead media duties to EssenceMediacom in the WPP Media unit. The scheme will also utilize the WPP Open platform.

 

WPP CEO Cindy Rose probably applauds the win as proof that Eviscerate28 is working.

 

Okay, except the creation of EssenceMediacom, WPP Media, and WPP Open all happened under predecessor WPP CEO Mark Read’s watch.

 

To compound the confusing complexity, the incumbent White media agency for Honda Motor Europe was UM, which shifted when Omnicom acquired IPG. The loss could be fallout spotlighted and foreseen in a previous post.

 

It’s difficult to tell who’s in the driver’s seat for this pileup—but drones across WPP and Omnicom will likely serve as crash test dummies.

 

WPP’s EssenceMediacom To Lead Media For Honda Motor Europe

 

By Steve McClellan

 

Honda Motor Europe has appointed WPP Media’s EssenceMediacom as its lead media agency for the region, following a formal review.  

 

Spending in the region last year by the client is estimated at close to $90 million by agency research firm COMvergence.  

 

The auto giant previously worked with UM in the region. It wasn’t immediately clear what other agencies participated in the review.

 

The new partnership, effective in August, spans Honda Motor Europe’s automobile, motorcycle, marine, power products, and corporate communications divisions across 16 European markets as well as pan-European activity.  

 

As part of its remit, a dedicated agency team will lead Honda’s media strategy, planning, and activation across Europe. It will leverage marketing platform WPP Open, to integrate Honda’s brand-building, product communications, conversion activity, audience intelligence, channel planning, activation, and reporting into a unified system. 

 

Honda’s decision comes as the company strives to evolve its marketing approach and strengthen alignment across brand, product and customer engagement activities, according to the company.  

 

Consultant MediaSense was retained by the client to assist with the review.

17459: WPP = Worldwide Problems Proliferating.

 

Financial Times reported WPP CEO Cindy Rose might not earn up to £14.2 million (roughly $19.1 million USD) as previously reported by The Times, pending an investors vote scheduled to happen this week. Financial Times, incidentally, indicated the potential payout could reach £11 million versus The Times’ £14.2 million figure.

 

Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis—two prominent shareholder proxy advisory groups—recommended that investors vote against the proposed pay deal.

 

The ISS rejection recommendation stated the payment scheme “is considered out of proportion to the company’s market positioning and its financial performance,” and there is “no sufficient justification to set her total pay package at a premium to her predecessor.”

 

While former WPP CEO Mark Read’s 2024 salary was capped at £8.6 million, former WPP Overlord Sir Martin Sorrell once pocketed almost £30 million—so it’s tough to dispute or agree with the ISS position.

 

Glass Lewis stated investors should oppose pay proposals given “the significant salary on appointment for the CEO, the discrepancy between financial and non-financial metric outcomes under the annual bonus, and the lack of disclosure surrounding the decision to grant [long-term investment plan] awards at maximum level despite a significant fall in share price.”

 

Regarding the Rose pay package, WPP claimed it had “undertaken extensive consultation with our shareholders on the proposed changes to our remuneration policy, with strong support indicated from the vast majority.” Plus, the single White operating company stated the changes were “essential to align us with global peers, restore growth, and position WPP as a company fit for the future and built to win.”

 

The entire mess underscores three key points:

 

1. Rose should attend all earning calls, seizing such opportunities to justify her salary—whatever the actual amount might be.

 

2. Given the fuzzy pay figures, confusion surrounding organizational restructuring, and overall lack of transparency, WPP should consider keeping Burson, as there is great need for professional PR to hype the company’s progress.

 

3. WPP is a flaming dumpster.

 

17436: FYI WPP CTO WTF.

 

Adweek reported WPP hired a Chief Transformation Officer: someone with a somewhat vague ambition to do something to somehow actualize Eviscerate28 someday, presumably by sometime in 2028.

 

WPP couldn’t get its story straight, claiming the role was new, even though a former WPP executive held the title. Plus, ex-WPP CEO Mark Read once declared the White holding company would become a “creative transformation” enterprise.

 

At WPP, transformation is a buzzword typically preceding transition in the form of mass layoffs.

 

At this point, it’s hard to distinguish Autobots from Decepticons in the corporate drama. Optimus Prime would concede defeat if faced with WPP’s transformers saga.

 

Wonder if McKinsey & Company recommended hiring a CTO in the recent strategic review, as the consultancy has defined the fuzzy function.

 

The new executive previously worked at Estée Lauder, which should come in handy since she must now put lipstick on a pig.

 

WPP Taps Estée Lauder’s Anne-Isabelle Choueiri as Chief Transformation Officer 

 

She’ll be central to the group’s three-year turnaround plan

 

By Rebecca Stewart

 

WPP has hired Anne-Isabelle Choueiri from The Estée Lauder Companies as chief transformation officer to help reset the business as it seeks to return to growth by 2028.

 

Based in New York and reporting to CEO Cindy Rose, Choueiri will be tasked with designing, implementing, and embedding the operations to execute WPP’s “Elevate28″ three-year turnaround plan. The advertising network announced its turnaround strategy in February, after it posted an 8.1% year-on-year revenue decline.

 

In a press release, WPP said Choueiri will lead efforts to make WPP more innovative, efficient, and better connected for clients.

 

She will sit on the executive committee, and key parts of her role will include baking AI and tech into WPP’s day-to-day processes, as well as working with its people team to bring staff along with the changes.

 

Choueiri has spent the last six years working at Estée Lauder’s parent group, most recently as SVP of transformation. While there, she shaped the beauty giant’s operating model and its marketing, data, and analytics capabilities. She also led its AI strategy.

 

Previously, Choueiri held leadership roles at consultancies including Accenture, Bain’s Masaï, and Kearney.

 

WPP described the transformation chief role as newly created. However, holdco veteran Lindsay Pattison previously held the position in 2017, subsequently becoming chief client and chief people officer, before departing in 2025.

 

‘Bold, lasting change’

 

Rose said delivering on “Elevate28” would mean transforming how WPP operates and shows up for clients, adding that Choueiri was “exactly the leader [WPP] needs to drive bold, lasting change.”

 

She has already started transforming the business, having joined just as its share price hit a 16-year low in September 2025. Her reset plan has been designed to stabilize the business in 2026, build momentum in 2027, and return it to growth from 2028 onwards. 

To achieve this, WPP is now oriented around four units: WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production, and WPP Enterprise Solutions, across four key regions: North America, Latin America, EMEA, and APAC. This new setup is underpinned by its proprietary AI platform, WPP Open.

 

When she announced the plan two months ago, Rose said the sweeping restructure would deliver annual cost savings of $676 million (£500 million) and was informed by six months of “rigorous analysis” and conversations with WPP’s clients, which include Coca-Cola, Unilever, Nestle, and Ford. The holdco brought on McKinsey to lead a strategic review in November.

 

At the time, the CEO offered little detail on what specific cuts or asset sales would deliver this target.

 

While Rose declined to go into specifics about potential further layoffs, she stated that WPP would consolidate leadership at “global, regional, and market levels” and remove duplicate roles across its creative agencies. She also said the group would de-duplicate functions across its finance and people teams over the next three years.

 

In a statement on her new role, Choueiri said she was joining WPP at a “pivotal moment.”

 

“Lasting transformation requires the right culture and operational mindset, and I’m excited to help build an environment where innovation thrives, and our people are empowered to embrace change,” she said.

17430: Wendy’s + WPP Media = WTF.

Advertising Age reported Wendy’s handed its US media business to WPP Media after a closed review featuring WPP and Omnicom.

 

The scenario is so messed up, it’s difficult to deliver focused commentary. Hence, here’s the bullshit excreted with random bullet points:

 

• A closed review between WPP and Omnicom underscores the exclusive arena created by White holding companies. How was Omnicom even a contender, given its deep ties to Mickey D’s? Perhaps Omnicom promised to erect firewalls separating legacy Omnicom and IPG enterprises. Regardless, it all shows major accounts will be divvied up between a cabal of predominately Caucasian corporations.

 

• Wendy’s creative business has been handled for over 14 years by VML, a White advertising agency within the WPP Creative confederacy. The client claims the media assignment simplifies marketing efforts via an integrated model. On the flipside, Wendy’s admits sales suck and brand performance has steadily declined in recent years. In most cases, such results would rightly prompt a full account review. Yet WPP was rewarded for incompetence with added Wendy’s business.

 

• Ad Age positioned the win as evidence of WPP CEO Cindy Rose’s direct involvement on pitches. Okay, except as detailed above, this scheme really wasn’t a pitch. Additionally, WPP Media was invented by ex-WPP CEO Mark Read. So, it appears Rose is simply riding Read’s coattails, which were torn, tattered, and disintegrating rags.

 

• Wendy’s US CMO has been with the fast feeder for nearly 15 years; however, she was elevated to the role only three years ago. Most of her former professional personas involved serving as a financial analyst. Ad Age previously stated WPP victories under Rose leveraged low-balling maneuvers and price-cutting incentives. Need an explanation for Wendy’s decision to hire WPP Media? Do the math.

 

• In the end, it looks like Wendy’s ultimately chose the least stinky pile of dung.

 

Wendy’s is adding media to WPP’s remit—behind the decision

 

By Jon Springer and Ewan Larkin

 

Wendy’s has awarded its U.S. media business to WPP Media in a move it says will accelerate an ongoing turnaround and build on its longtime creative relationship with WPP’s VML.

 

The restaurant chain had long worked with Publicis Groupe’s Spark Foundry. That agency declined an invitation to defend and declined to comment. WPP and Omnicom participated in the closed review, said Lindsay Radkoski, Wendy’s U.S. chief marketing officer.

 

Wendy’s spent $319 million on measured media in 2025, down from $520 million in 2024, according to MediaRadar.

 

The shift comes as Wendy’s looks to reverse disappointing results, including U.S. same-restaurant sales that fell 5.2% last year, including an 11.3% plunge in the fourth quarter. To that end, the brand is rethinking how its marketing operates. It is moving away from siloed creative and media teams toward a more integrated model designed to speed up execution, reduce inefficiencies and better connect campaigns to sales, Radkoski said.

 

“Our business performance has not been where we want it to be. It’s not where the category’s been,” Radkoski said. She added that the review also reflects broader changes in how brands connect with consumers. “I really believe that the days are gone of the historical creative and media silos,” she said.

 

The brand and media agency are already cooperating in ways that are faster and more seamless than before. During this year’s March Madness college basketball tournament, Wendy’s was signing athletes to NIL deals in near real time as standout plays unfolded, turning them into social advocates for the brand. The brand is a longtime March Madness sponsor.

 

“In the past, who signs the influencer [the media agency or creative agency] led to some duplication and not being as efficient in the work as we need to be,” Radkoski said.

 

Tactics like this will help Wendy’s respond faster and produce more in-the-moment content that will change the way its social accounts feel, Radkoski said. The brand also plans to lean more into product-focused marketing and ongoing campaign storytelling.

 

Wendy’s longstanding creative relationship with VML

 

Although creative agencies are often in the crosshairs when brands attempt a turnaround, VML, Wendy’s creative partner of 14 years, isn’t going anywhere.

 

“We’re happy with that partnership,” Radkoski said. “Like any relationship, you have to have big conversations about how’s the team, how’s the business, how’s the talent, how’s our operating model, what do we need to adjust … We’re in a really healthy rhythm with the VML team.”

 

Bringing creative and media into the same ecosystem will help Wendy’s “build around VML,” Radkoski added.

 

WPP pitched a model in which Wendy’s retains control of its data through a private network, rather than relying on agency-owned data platforms, said Brian Lesser, CEO of WPP Media. The multiyear deal includes an outcomes-based component, linking a portion of WPP’s compensation to business results, he added.

 

Wendy’s is the second largest U.S. burger chain by sales but remains well behind McDonald’s and has struggled in recent years. Its CEO, Kirk Tanner, departed in July after just 18 months on the job to take the CEO job at Hershey Co. Ken Cook, Wendy’s chief financial officer, has served as interim CEO since.

 

In October, Wendy’s launched a comprehensive turnaround program called “Project Fresh” aimed at modernizing how consumers experience the brand. As part of that program it retained Creed UnCo, a consultancy led by former Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed, to sharpen how the brand targets customers.

 

Wendy’s marks another major media win for WPP under new CEO Cindy Rose, who took the reins Sept. 1. WPP has been battling declining revenue and a string of client losses as it works through a multiyear turnaround plan. But the company has recently shown signs of life in the pitch room, notching assignments with Jaguar Land Rover, The Estée Lauder Cos., SC Johnson, the U.K. government and Henkel.

 

Key to this momentum, as Ad Age previously reported, has been Rose’s increased presence in reviews, as well as a newfound sense of humility and selectivity. WPP still has a ways to go to right the ship, but a win with Wendy’s in the U.S.—where marketing consultants have said the agency group’s perception hasn’t fully recovered following years of internal reorganizations—is the kind of proof point it needs to start winning back advertiser confidence.